Keller v. Mountlake Terrace Code Enforcement

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE

RAYMOND J. KELLER, et al., CASE NO. C24-2172JLR Plaintiffs, ORDER v. MOUNTLAKE TERRACE CODE ENFORCEMENT, et al., Defendants. On May 22, 2025, the court entered an initial scheduling order in which it set the deadline for the parties to complete their Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(f) conference on June 5, 2025; the deadline to exchange initial disclosures on June 20, 2025; and the deadline to file a joint status report and discovery plan on June 26, 2025. (5/22/25 Order (Dkt. # 28).) On June 20, 2025, Defendants Mountlake Terrace Code Enforcement, the Mountlake Terrace Police Department, the City of Mountlake Terrace, and the Mountlake Terrace City Attorney (together, “Defendants”) filed a status report in which they represent that their attorneys have “attempted to contact [P]laintiffs on more than one occasion to make arrangements for a Rule 26(f) conference” but Plaintiffs have

not responded to those efforts. (Status Report (Dkt. # 36) at 1.) The court admonishes Plaintiffs that compliance with the court’s orders is not optional. Although Plaintiffs are proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, they nevertheless are required to follow the same rules of procedure that govern represented litigants. See, e.g., Briones v. Riviera Hotel & Casino, 116 F.3d 379, 381 (9th Cir. 1997). The court warns Plaintiffs that failure to comply with court orders in the future may result

in the imposition of sanctions, up to and including dismissal of the case. See, e.g., Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b) (empowering the court to dismiss an action if the plaintiff fails to comply with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or a court order); Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(f)(1)(C) (providing for sanctions if a party or its attorney “fails to obey a scheduling or other pretrial order”).

The court STRIKES the deadlines set in its May 22, 2025 order (Dkt. # 28) and RESETS those deadlines as follows: Deadline for FRCP 26(f) Conference: July 7, 2025 Initial Disclosures Pursuant to FRCP 26(a)(1): July 21, 2025 Combined Joint Status Report and Discovery Plan: August 4, 2025

Dated this 23rd day of June, 2025. A JAMES L. ROBART United States District Judge